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I'm starting to warm up to the Shumpert pick

I think he's a steal at 17, maybe the steal of the draft. Arguably the best athlete in the draft, probably the best defender... This kid led the nation in steals per at 2.7 a game. That's outstanding...Anything over 2 a game really stands out. He went for almost 3 a game! And when you look at his offense, yeah the shooting percentages haven't been great but, as Donnie pointed out prior to his exodus (correctly I might add), "his shot isn't broken." Shumpert really looks like he could be a very reliable jumpshooter eventually --- his shooting mechanics look very sound to me. Very clean release with good form and elevation..Plus, he can make his FTs (80%) -- another sign that leads me to believe he could be an effective jumpshooter, sooner rather than later. The touch on the ball is there...All he needs to do is work on his shot selection. Unlike at Georgia Tech, there will never be a reason to force shots on this team. Not with Amar'e and Melo around as the primary options..Practice, repetition, confidence and good coaching (he's gonna need D'Antoni to play him right outta the gate, not bury him, and give him room to make mistakes and grow) -- that's what it'll take for this kid to really make it big.. The potential's there for him to be a very good offensive player. You can see it: he can put it on the floor, get to the rim, play above the rim at times, pull up real well from mid-range (a lost art for many players, not Shumpert though---he shows a nice old-school step back mid-ranger jumper that he looks very comfortable taking and can get off at anytime) and shoot 3s. When judging a player's offensive potential, what else is there to consider??? Some guys have limitations in the sense that there are things they just can't do and may never be able to do. I don't see that with Shumpert. There are things he needs to get better at obviously (perfecting his jumpshooting, show he can run a team at the point, etc.) but honestly, nothing stands out as in "he'll never be able to do that." Nothing...

Guys can become better jumpshooters. Happens all the time. Probably the easiest thing for any player to improve upon. Look at Shawne Williams. Billy Walker's another example. Walker was only a 30.7% 3-pt shooter when he left K-State. Now he's a pretty reliable 3-pt shooter for the Knicks the past 3 years, shooting above 40% during that span. Walker's never been one of my favorite Knicks, he's streaky as hell and plays lousy D---he should be a much better player given his athleticism/ability, but still, like him or not Walker's a lot more consistent shooter from distance than when he entered the league. I could see that same kind of improvement for Shumpert. All the tools are there. And his head's screwed on straight -- sounds very mature in every interview I've heard..Thing ya gotta love the most is that he's a legit 2-way player. Many guys enter the league and right from day 1 they couldn't care less about playing any defense. This dude does. It's his bread & butter in fact...There's really a ton of potential here on both sides of the ball. I hate to start comparing him to anyone (the best thing we could all probably do is just let Shumpert be Shumpert) but it's hard not to think about it...Rodney Stuckey/OJ Mayo with much better defense? A bigger Toney Douglas with much better tools & skills? A young version of Larry Hughes (someone's youtube comment on Iman I read today that makes some sense--I can see that)? Derek Harper eventually if he can show he can run a team?? Who knows? Sky's the limit guys..Time will tell but when the dust finally settled, I think we came away with a real good one here.

And check out this agility drill. He noticeably outperforms every other G-Tech player in line behind him in this drill..And again, going back to his Combine #s, they were off the charts: measured out over 6'5" in shoes, almost a 6'10" wingspan, just 6.5 body fat, 36.5" no-step vert. (42 inch max vert.), 18 reps on the bench press, 11.10 lane agility, 3.18 3/4 court sprint. OUTSTANDING!

I heard an interview where he was asked if he was a PG and he said he was a pure PG but could play the 2 if asked.

He seems to have that high dribble because he is tall and all those highlight reels I see of him show him dunking and that he can jump high but I don't see that much of his ball handling and play making ability.

I noticed the high dribble too. He's really reminds of Wade the way he explodes to the basket w his quickness. Wade never had that high dribble tho. He was very/more crafty w his handle coming out of Marquette.

Shumpert has good base of talent to work with. It'll be interesting to see if he can maximize it. He's seems to have the aptitude to digest the mental side of the NBA game which is a good sign. I'm not sure what he is right now PG-SG wise. Gun to my head I'd say he's a 2. Let him go out there use his athleticism to score dominate offensively that way, then look to get others involved as things breakdown and the defense adjusts to that ability. His best attribute right now is his athleticism and his finishing skills around the rim.